The Listener: Poor Reviews and Ratings; Cancel It or Keep It?

Published: June 10, 2009

NBC recently debuted one of their new Summer shows, The Listener. With lots of negative reviews, how did the first episodes perform in the ratings? Is the show worth keeping or should the network listen to critics and cancel it?

The Listener is a Canadian drama that revolves around a young paramedic (Craig Olejnik) who has the ability to listen to people’s inner thoughts. He tries to help those in need while trying to figure out his own place in the world. Others in the cast include Ennis Esmer, Colm Feore, Lisa Marcos, Mylene Robic, Anthony Lemke, John Fleming, Lara jean Chorostecki, Arnold Pinnock, and Paulino Nunes.

The show has already run in several countries around the world and began airing in the US on June 4th. NBC aired the first episode at 9pm and it ranked in fourth place for the timeslot, attracting just 5.25 million viewers and a 1.5/4 rating/share in the 18-49 demographic. The 10pm episode garnered a few more viewers (5.34 million) but lost a bit in the demo (1.4/4).

Should The Listener be cancelled?

Many critics crucified the series and even fellow NBC employee Greg Grunberg may not be crazy about it either. The actor, who plays a mindreader on Heroes, tweeted, “New ‘original’ NBC show about a guy who can hear thoughts… called, uh…The Listener? Uh, no wait, I know this. BRAIN FART!! Genius!!” On Tuesday, he retweeted a fan’s note that said, “wht is ths ‘The Listener’ crap. thr’s alrdy a show abt a mindreader on tv, its called heroes, & @greggrunberg is all we need.”

The peacock network can’t be pleased with Listener’s lackluster performance, even for a Summer series. If NBC was footing the bill exclusively, the show would certainly not be back for another season. But, because the network is simply purchasing the broadcast rights from Canada’s CTV, the show’s much less expensive for them. If CTV decides to produce another season, it might make some sense for NBC to pick it up.

What do you think? Is the show work watching or should it be cancelled already?

First of all. Heroes isn’t just about Matt Parkman, it’s about a ton of people with special abilities, and Matt isn’t a paramedic, he’s a cop, and he’s not canadian! well, it’s not a canadian telvision show.. So…anyways, they need to bring it back. I absolutely love this show.

I love this show. I am so sick of all these networks cancelling these great shows and putting on stupid reality TV. I am ready to completely cancel my television. Every time I find something good to watch they pull it off

i love this show so much, i think its great and fantastic. nbc needs to stop canceling all the good shows, and this is one of them. i saw one episode (the one were the boy was a girl) and i was hooked after that. <3 please keep the show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Listener is a fabulous show. How can those of us who live in the U.S. watch it. Please give us a website we can go to see it at after NBC stops providing it to us.
Many people are on vacation in the summer, and miss episodes because they are traveling. I don’t think this show has been given a fair shake.

Please bring The Listener back but put it on at a time slot where people will be able to watch it. I found it one night by mistake and was hooked every week…I told others about it and they were hooked too…. give it another chance… There was some great chemistry between some of the characters on the show, lets see where they can go..

I don’t understand this. I’ve NEVER seen anything advertising this show. The only reason I heard about it was my friend was watching it on his DVR when I walked in. I’m now hooked on it and if they didn’t have it I would barely watch TV. What’s with all these stupid shows like Chuck?